Whirling toy



J. T. EDSON.

WHIRLING TOY.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. H, 1920.

1,374,002., Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

INVENTO/i \V/ M F ATTORNEYS stares coma raacnr nn'son, or new roan, n. Y.

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- Specification of Letters Yatent.

Patented Apr. 1921.

application filed- February 11, 1920. Serial No. 857,842. 7

To all whom it may concern; I

Be it lmown that I, J OHN TRAcEY'EDsoN,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, Sailors Snug Harbor, New Brighton, borough of Richmond,

county of Richmond, and. State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Whirling Toy, of which the following is a full, clear, and'exactdescription.

Thisinvention relates to games and toys and hasparticular reference'to toys of a cheap nature involving the use of weighted cords or connections adapted to be caused to Whirl simultaneously in substantially the same plane but in opposite dlrectlons, having the characteristic of immediately excit-- ing the interest of any observer who may not be familiar with the physical principles 1n-.

volved and so rendering the toy of an un- View the invention consists in the arrange ment and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein,

.still for the purpose ofillustrating a racti-.

cal embodiment thereof reference is ad to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment of my improvement, parts being broken away to conserve space. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional View indicating especially the connection between the handle and the'fiexible connection.

Fig. 3 is a diagram indicating the manner of use and operation of the device. Fi i is a horizontal sectional the l1ne,4. i of Fig. 1.

Referring now more articularly to the drawings I show a hand e 10 which may be of any suitable relatively cheap material detail on preferably straight and with a rounded or hemispherical end 11. This handle may be of any convenient length such for example in an ordinary size of equipment of eighteen to twenty-four inches. As shown best in Fig. 2 the rounded end 11 is bored through its cen-' ter at 12. The bore or hole 12 may extend to any desired .extent along the handle, but

for convemencefit is ordinarily sufficient for it to pass out through the side of the handle formmg an acute angle with the axis of the stick or handle. 1

13 and 13 indicate two cords or other flexible-members threaded through the hole 12, or they may represent the longer and shorter ends respectively of a single cord or r flexible'member, the loop portion '13 of wh1ch beyond or back of the. hole 12 being of any su table length and adapted to. be

held or fastened to the rear 'end of the handle 10 by any suitable means providing for the free movement of the loop portion togarglor from the-rounded end 11 of the an e.

To the free end of each of the members 13* and 13 is fixed a weight preferably of a.

corners or slendernature and without shar pro] ectlons. These weights are s own at 14* and 14 respectively.v By making the connections 15 and 13 of diflerent lengths 1 lnsure that there shall be no interference between the'welghts in the practice of the de- VIC'G.

Added interest and attractiveness are af-. forded if desired by attaching to the several 7 flexible connections ornamental devices such as flags or banners'15 and 15 which may be 1 of a patriotic nature if desired. Hence a group of children provided with toys of the nature indicated'may make a very attractive display-at the time of public demonstrations if they are decorated with patriotic emblems and swung in opposite directions within the spirit of the device. Each ornament. is mounted so as to rotate or swivel freely around the flexible connection which carries it. To this end the attachin means between the ornament and the flexible connec tion may comprise a sleeve 16 to which the ornament is fastened along one end, and to v insure the free rotation of the ornament'and sleeve I rovide a washer 17 constituting a bearing or the ornament adjacent to the 'pointof attachment with the weight;

For display purposes, es ecially at night, I

the weights may .consist an. suitable devices fori'pyrotechnic effect suc as sparklers or the like. 7

\Vith a device made as above set forth the method of operation will be understood as follows: \Vith the handle grasped in one other weight, as 14, around the axis of the handle describing a circle in a vertical plane as indicated by the arrow a, then while the stick is manipulated with a vertical oscillatory movement tocontinue the rotation of the weight 14 the operator will'toss the weight held in his hand so as to cause it to start to rotate around the axis of the handle in the direction indicated by the arrow b. If I this operation is performed carefully the two weights will then be circulating in approximately the same vertical plane describing circles in opposite directions. This movement may be continued indefinitely at the will of the operator by simply vibrating or oscillating the handle up and down as shown by the dotted are 0. Since the cords are of unequal lengths neither weight will seriously interfere with the cord pertaining to the other weight. Even though the 'cords project from the same hole 12 at the end 11 of the handle with ordinary care'the cords and other parts carried thereby do not become snarled, tangled, nor obstructed, afact which in itself seems rather mysterious and adds material interest to the operation of the toy. The operation of this'toy re uires a certain amount of skill due to the act that while one hand and the handle are reciprocating in a vertical plane, the hand to start the second weight must be tossed in an arc of a to the aforesaid plane. In other words-the two movements of the hands are of different characters, and in order to operate the toy the two hands must be broken so to speak to perform these different-functions simultaneously. After the weights have been started the lengths of the cords 13 and 13 may be increased indefinitely, or limited only by the space in which the operator has to play. For example standingon a dock or pier or other elevated position the weights may describe circles whose radii may be only 15, 20 or 25 inches, but after they have been set into operation the pecull-er manner of connecting the flexible concircle lying in a vertical plane perpendicular nections to the handle provides for the elongation of the flexible, connections, while the operation of the weights is continued 111 the plane already described, and hence the-circles may be enlarged to radii of 10 to 15 or more feet with precisely the same result as already described. The use of a handle with a rounded end and with a central eye or bearing point 12 serves at least two immediate and important functions: First, the

rounded end of the handle insures that the cords 'will not wrap upon the handle nor interfere with each other during the operation of the toy, and secondly the handle being of considerable length relatively will insure that no harm can result to the child from the flying weights when learning to operate the toy. After the requisite skill is acquired there is no practical danger from this source.

The end or loop portion 13 of the flexible connection is looped through or otherwise suitably permanently attached to a slide 18 of any suitable nature fitted upon the handle end of the stick 10 and adapted to move longitudinally along the stick. From what has been stated above it will be understood that the connections or cords will 'be long enough to make any desired size of circles, but for ordinary practice the parts of the cords adjacent to the loop 13 will hang in a loose bight 13, being so held by the'hand that manipulates the device as to produce the desired length but adapted to be paid out or taken up by the use of the other hand during the operation. When the bight 13 is all taken u the effective length of the cords may be increased by slipping the slide 18 toward the end 11. Vvith the connections made as shown there is no likelihood that the connections or the weights attached thereto will beseparated from the handle or stick.

While in the foregoing specific description I have applied the term vertical as being descriptive of the plane in which the weights of this toy would ordinarily be operated, I wish it to be understood that such term is to be considered relative only for the toy will operate satisfactorily in other than vertical planes:

I claim:

1. The herein described-whirling toy comprising a rigid handle having a bearing eye formed at its end, a plurality of flexible connections of variable length extendin through said eye and a weight attached to each flexible connection, the flexible connections being adapted to be moved through the eye to vary their length during the whirling ofthe weights around said eye as an axis.

2. A device of the nature set forth in claim 1 in which the flexible connections heme tion remote from the eye making asingle member.'

3. In a whirling toy, the combination of a rigid handle, a plurality of connections 5 sus ended from one end of the handle, a

' welght attached to the free end of each connection, the weights and connections being adapted to deecriheoirclee in opposi dii'ecnections simultaneously with the whirling of the weights as aforesaid.

' JOHN TRAGEY EDSON. 

